It is sometimes tempting when entering into a joint research agreement to agree that both parties will jointly own any patent rights arising from the collaboration. However, unless the rights of each party are clearly set out in the agreement, this can lead to complications and may be dangerous.
United States
In the United States, 35 USC 262 provides that in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, each joint owner of a patent may...

As part of the ongoing efforts by the UK government to update British intellectual property law following the extensive Hargreaves’ Review that reported in 2011, many provisions of the UK Intellectual Property Act 2014 came into effect on October 1, 2014. In a separate but related development, The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Personal Copies for Private Use) Regulations 2014 and The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Quotation and...

Since 2005 there has been increased concern about patent enforcement by parties that have variously been referred to as patent trolls, non-practicing entities, patent aggregators and, most recently, patent assertion entities. Typically such entities have acquired patents from the original patentees and do not operate under the patents in question. Initially, such enforcement was against large companies who were seen as lucrative targets. More...